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DeKalb RDC begins planning expansions of TIF districts to cover SDI industrial corridor and airport area
Summary
At its July 8 meeting the DeKalb County Redevelopment Commission reviewed maps and reached initial consensus to pursue expansions of two tax increment financing (TIF) areas around the SDI industrial corridor and the American Heritage/airport zone, and agreed to begin outreach with planners and affected jurisdictions.
The DeKalb County Redevelopment Commission on July 8 began a formal planning effort to expand or create tax increment financing districts covering the SDI industrial corridor and portions of the American Heritage/airport area, the commission’s chair said.
The commission reviewed two packet documents — one describing why TIFs are used and another outlining the procedural checklist — and studied detailed maps showing where existing industrial zoning and potential development overlap. The chair said the purpose of the session was to reach consensus on draft boundaries so staff can quickly move if development opportunities arise.
Members focused first on the SDI area, discussing a proposed starting boundary running from U.S. 6 south between County Roads 63 and 59 to County Road 40, west to County Road 55, down to State Road 8 and back to County Road 63. The chair emphasized that a TIF captures only future increases in assessed value — "whatever the assessed value is now stays, and anything that increases we’re just picking up that increment" — and does not raise existing property owners’ taxes, a point repeated by staff during the exchange.
The group also discussed the county’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) near Butler and the legal complications that can follow annexation. Staff said an ETJ by itself does not bar a county TIF while the area remains in ETJ, but if the city annexes parcels and the county already has bonded against a TIF, the overlap can become legally and administratively complex and could require a separate de‑TIF process to remove parcels.
On the American Heritage/airport maps, commissioners debated whether to include hangar parcels and other airport real estate. Staff noted airports can host revenue‑generating hangars and long‑term leases that a TIF could help support; members also discussed a publicly reported racetrack concept and whether that or anticipated airport development argues for keeping the airport and American Heritage TIFs separate or combining them later.
Commissioners said they do not plan to engage attorneys or issue bonds at this stage. The action taken was preparatory: finalize draft maps, start conversations with the county planning department and affected municipal officials, and begin community‑notice steps and a public hearing process if warranted.
Next steps: staff will coordinate with the planning department and with Butler officials where the ETJ intersects proposed boundaries, prepare public‑notice materials, and present refined maps to the commission for a formal vote and any subsequent legal steps.
